The Final Fight

"They're on their way." Sylvanas said, panting and standing beside Tyrande who nodded her head slowly and looked over to Malfurion.

"We're ready for them." The High Priestess said, returning her attention to the Ranger-General. "Restock on arrows over there." She said, pointing to a nearby building. "There's plenty to go around still, we figured all of you would be out by the time you get here, so we're happy to share them if it can keep back these demons."

"We'll fight our hardest to make sure they don't make it to the tree." Sylvanas told them, bowing her head slightly to the High Priestess. "And thank you for allowing us to restock on arrows."

Kael'thas followed Sylvanas and several rangers into the building, standing beside the Ranger-General as she refilled her quiver with arrows. "Is your head still in it?" He asked, watching Sylvanas nod her head. "Good. This is the final battle, whether we win or lose. I hope it's not the latter, but we will need everyone fully focused for it."

"I'm fine, don't worry." Sylvanas said, glancing over to him. "Compartmentalizing it is very easy when the world is at threat. I'll deal with it when we return home, until then, I have to lead our people into one final fight."

Kael'thas watched Sylvanas focus on refilling her quiver, frowning at her when he saw her focusing hard on a simple task. "You should have told him when you knew." The Prince said, hearing the General sigh. "He would still be here, fighting beside you."

"I know." Sylvanas said quietly, looking over to her rangers who were all pretending not to listen. "Listen, can we talk about this when we return home? If you even want to talk about it then?"

Kael'thas nodded his head slowly. "Alright, I'll say nothing more." He told her, looking at the rangers surrounding the tables full of food, water and arrows then leaving shortly after to rejoin the rest of them outside, preparing for the defense of the world tree.

"Something's coming." Tyrande said when Kael'thas made his way towards her and Malfurion. "Something big." She then said, feeling the ground rumble beneath her feet.

Kael'thas engulfed his hands in fire when he felt the ground shake, looking over to the west and spotting several demons charging towards them. "Incoming." He yelled, looking over to Sylvanas who stood beside him. "Ready?"

"I am." Sylvanas told the Prince, nocking an arrow in place on her bow and drawing it back. "We've got this." She then said, letting loose the arrow and hitting one of the demons charging her way, only to feel the ground around her shake and noticing a giant leg appear from the valley. "What is that!?" She exclaimed, looking up at a giant demon making its way towards the tree and ignoring all of them in the meantime.

"Whatever it is, it's heading straight for the world tree." Kael'thas said, looking over to Tyrande who was watching Malfurion shift into his flight form and flying off into the distance. "Where is he going?"

"To get some help against that demon." Tyrande told the Prince, turning her attention over to the demon who placed two hands on the world tree and looked to be chanting a spell. "We have to focus on killing the rest of them, Malfurion will deal with him."

Archimonde was the demon's name and he was tapping into the tree's roots and focusing on ripping the world tree, named Nordrassil, from where it was rooted just so he could access the pool of water beneath it. Water that was swirling with arcane energy from the Well of Eternity, a key ingredient for the Eredar Lord to summon a portal big enough to allow the Burning Legion to swarm across the lands.

Whilst Archimonde was focusing on the world tree, Sylvanas and her rangers along with everyone else who had gathered at the Night Elf base, fighting off the hordes of demons and undead that were slowly chipping away at them. "Hold them back!" Sylvanas commanded, letting loose another arrow into the demons further back and being joined by most of her company whilst Lor'themar's stood side by side with the orcs, tauren and humans who were on the front lines, holding back the demons.

As Kael'thas launched another fireball at the demons, he saw a glowing orb fly overhead and towards the world tree, frowning when he saw several of those glowing orbs begin to swirl around the giant demon. "What's going on?" He asked, looking over to Tyrande who was focusing on the fight at hand.

"Focus, Prince." Tyrande told him, letting loose an arrow from her bow whilst also casting a beam of moonfire down on several demons shortly after. "Malfurion is handling it."

Kael'thas nodded his head slowly and engulfing his hands again, throwing ball of fire after ball of fire at the demons and occasionally erecting an arcane barrier to protect him and those around whenever the Burning Legion's casters launched spells at them in response. "General, focus your fire on their spell casters." He said, dropping the arcane barrier and watching Sylvanas nod her head at him.

"On it." She told him, signalling over to Clea who came to her side. "Focus on their spell casters, tell the rest of them to do the same."

"General." Clea responded, saluting her.

Looking over to Archimonde, Kael'thas noticed more and more wisps begin to encircle the giant demon, hearing a loud horn bellow out around the area. "What was that?" He asked, looking over to Tyrande who began to smile a little.

"Our help." She said, turning her attention to Kael'thas and Jaina who was fighting beside the two of them. "I need you to gather all the mages and shield us."

"What for?" Jaina asked, looking over to the Prince.

"You'll see." Tyrande told her. "Gather the mages and cast an arcane shield around all of us."

"Alright." Kael'thas said, looking over to the General. "Sylvanas, call everyone back to us."

Sylvanas nodded and made her way over to the front lines. "Fall back!" She yelled, placing a hand on Lor'themar's shoulder. "Fall back to the Prince."

Thrall, Cairne and Lor'themar, along with their soldiers and rangers, began to fall back to Kael'thas, Jaina and the mages following her, watching a giant magical shell cover them and stopping the demons from getting close to them. "Now what?" Thrall asked, having his eyes glowing with lightning as well as his fingers, waiting for the demons to break through the magical shell.

"Watch." Tyrande said, pointing over to the world tree and the demon climbing it.

Archimonde focused on pulling Nordrassil out from its roots, ignoring the hundreds if not thousands of wisps encircling him faster and faster, amassing into nothing but a wall of swirling light around him that quickly became all he could see. First he felt his hands drop off from the tree, followed by being pulled away from Nordrassil itself as if he was being carried by the wisps surrounding him.

Whilst everyone watched on, there was a quickly flash of light followed by an explosion where Archimonde was, sending out a wave of fire that incinerated all the demons outside the arcane shell, the wildlife around them and the world tree in front of them, making all of the Kaldorei suddenly feel weak in the knees and either fall down onto one knee, both knees or collapse entirely as if something had been ripped out from them within. "Are you okay?" Sylvanas asked, helping Tyrande stand on her own two feet.

"I'm fine." Tyrande told her, placing a hand on her chest and feeling her heart beat a little faster as the magical shell around them began to drop. "This victory... It has come at a price."

"What price?" Kael'thas asked, looking over to the world tree. "Oh... I'm sorry about Nordrassil." He said, watching Tyrande wave away his apology.

"I always knew it was going to happen some day." Tyrande told the Prince. "That tree gave us our immortality. With it destroyed, we are mortals once more."

"That explains why you all reacted like that." Sylvanas said, looking around the valley they were in and noticing everything except the land they were all standing on, was destroyed. "Is it really over now?"

Tyrande nodded her head, looking over to Malfurion who flew towards them and transforming back into his humanoid form, standing beside the High Priestess and placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's over." She said, smiling at Malfurion and pressing her cheek to the hand on his shoulder. "It was a heavy price to pay, but we have defeated them."

Sylvanas smiled and nodded her head, though the smile began to shift into sadness and slowly walking away from everyone, only to have Clea and Anya hug the General when she began to break down. "I'm... I'm fine." She told them, feeling both rangers hug her tighter.

"You're not and that's okay." Anya told her. "We're returning home soon and you know it, which is why you're acting like this now, General. You're going back home with the knowledge of everything that has happened in the last two days. But just know we will always be here for you, as well as Viraleth who will be waiting for you to return home."

Both Clea and Sylvanas looked over to Anya who continued to hug the General tightly, frowning at her. "She really can have a burst of maturity when she wants to, can't she?" Sylvanas asked, looking over to Clea who nodded her head slowly.

"It's always a surprise when it happens." Clea said, getting a laugh from Sylvanas who hugged Anya back. "My offer to talk to Athrodar when we return still stands, by the way."

Sylvanas shook her head. "I'll talk to him in a week, wait until things cool down a little."

Clea nodded her head. "Alright." She said, looking over to Kael'thas who was in talks with Tyrande and Malfurion. "Do you think that alliance between us and the Kaldorei will happen?"

Sylvanas looked over to the three of them and smiled a little. "I think so."

"I'll send Shandris back with you to Silvermoon." Tyrande said, signalling the General over and smiling at her. "I trust her more than anyone. She's my daughter after all."

"Oh." Kael'thas looked over to the General and nodded his head slowly. "I didn't know she was your daughter."

"Would it matter if you did?" Shandris asked him, watching the Prince shake his head.

"Not at all. Well, maybe. It would make you a lot more trustworthy to the eyes of the Convocation back home if they knew the daughter of your people's leader was coming to talk to them about an alliance." Kael'thas looked over to Tyrande and Malfurion, nodding at them. "I can take her back now and get talks started. Some of the Convocation are nostalgic at times and having our two races working together like we did before our banishment might make them yearn for the 'good old days'." The Prince said, getting a smile from Tyrande.

"After everything you have done here to help us, I would be a fool to not at least talk to your father and the Convocation." Tyrande looked over to Shandris who saluted back to her. "Take her back with you, we'll still be here to check out the damage by the time she comes back."

Kael'thas nodded his head at her. "Alright." He looked over to Shandris who was waiting for him. "Ready?"

"Let's go." She said, being teleported to Silvermoon along with the Prince.

"I suppose we should get going too." Sylvanas said, making her way to Lor'themar who was talking to Jaina. "How is everyone?"

"I'm good." Jaina told her, smiling at the General. "Thank you for everything, I never expected we would have done this when we left Silvermoon, but I am glad I was a part of this." The mage looked over to the humans who had traveled all this way with her. "But right now, I think we need to find a place to settle and start a new life."

"I'll help you find it." Lor'themar told her, looking over to Sylvanas who frowned at him. "You need to return home and talk to that Lieutenant of yours. I'm sure the Convocation will understand why my company haven't return yet, especially if it's helping out a potential new ally." He said, looking back to Jaina who smiled at him. "If you'd accept it?"

"Happily." Jaina told him, bowing her head to Sylvanas. "Thank you for helping us." She told her, smiling at the General shortly after. "I hope things go well for you back in Silvermoon."

Sylvanas smiled a little and looked down at her feet. "I hope so too." She muttered, placing a hand on her stomach for a split second before removing it. "We'll travel back to our ships and set sail, leaving on for your return home." She told Lor'themar, watching him salute to her. "And don't be stupid or make us look foolish. Find Lady Proudmoore and her people a good place to set up home."

"I'll do my best, General." Lor'themar told her, smiling and hugging Sylvanas when she smiled at him, feeling her wrap her arms around him in return. "Give him time if he's not ready to talk. You did keep his father's death from him after all."

"Thank you for reminding me." Sylvanas whispered to him, pulling back and looking over to her company. "Anya, Clea. Round everyone up, we're leaving."

"General!" Anya replied, saluting to her before being pushed along by Clea.

"You're leaving?"

Athrodar laughed and nodded his head, patting Thalina on the top of the head and looking over to Vilandil who nodded his head slowly at him. "My mother and I along with Melonara are leaving for Stormwind in a few days. I'm waiting for the Prince to return so I can tell him our plans, as a way to repay him for being there when I found out about my father." Athrodar's smile began to slowly fade away as he looked down at the ring on his finger. "He's the only higher up I think I can trust now."

"And our father." Vilandil told him, grinning at him. "You know you can always talk to him if ever you need to talk to someone higher up."

"I know." Athrodar said, folding his arms across his chest and looking over to Thalina who looked saddened by his admittance to leaving for Stormwind. "Hey, chin up. You can come visit us with Liadrin if you want? She already knows, which is why I'm telling you now." He looked over to Vilandil. "Both of you."

"We'll visit when we can." Vilandil told him, placing a hand on his sister's arm. "She'll make sure of it. Especially since you've been away for over a month and she has been constantly banging on about the three of us kidnapping you again as you have been away for so long."

Athrodar laughed again and hugged Thalina. "I hope you do visit often." He told her, though his attention was on her brother. "Can't go too long without having you two around, especially now that I am no longer a ranger and have a lot of free time."

"We'll visit often." Thalina told him, wrapping her arms around Athrodar tightly. "I promise. The moment I know how to make portals to and from Silvermoon to Stormwind, I will visit so much that you will think you're back home with us."

"I'm looking forward to it." Athrodar told her, letting go of the younger Dawnstrider sibling and hugging Vilandil next, patting him on the back and being pat on the back shortly after by him. "I need to head to Sunfury Spire and wait there for the Prince. If I'm not mistaken, they should all be finished with the fight against the Burning Legion sometime today or tomorrow, so I'm hoping to bump into him if I wait."

Vilandil placed a hand on Athrodar's shoulder and smiled at him. "Hopefully the next time you see me, I will be a paladin with Liadrin and the rest of our class."

"That would be something." Athrodar told him, looking over to Thalina. "And I hope you'll learn to make portals and be a much more powerful mage than you already are, Thal."

"I-I will be!" She told him, smiling brightly at the young Sunblade. "I'll work hard to become a Magistrix and get my freedom to learn wherever I want."

"Best of luck with that then, Thal. I know you can do it." Athrodar told her, looking back to Vilandil and nodding at him, getting a nod back and leaving the two of them shortly after, making his way to Sunfury Spire as quickly as he could in the hopes of running into the Prince within the next few hours.

What he wasn't expecting was to run into the Prince when he entered the Convocation Hall, slipping into the room almost unnoticed except for a couple of members, including his grandmother Larysa. "Excuse me." She whispered to the King, having him nod and wave her away when he noticed Athrodar at the far end of the hall. "What are you doing here?" She asked him in a hushed tone.

"I'm here to speak to the Prince." Athrodar told her. "Not you or anyone else in this so-called family of ours."

"That's right, I almost forgot. You have decided to abandon your family because you got your feelings hurt." Larysa said, glaring at her grandson. "We thought you knew, by the way. I told Dael'Thaelas to wait for you and he said you would be there any minute. After the funeral he told me that he had regrets going forward with the funeral because you had missed it and was clearly never told."

Athrodar let out a small laugh and shook his head. "Trust you to have his back and try to win me over. I know you and Lord Sunblade never loved my father. You're both probably happy deep down that he's gone and out the way."

Larysa slapped Athrodar hard across the cheek and glared at him. "How dare you. Not only have you forsaken us and thrown away everything we have worked hard to build, you the insult me by saying I am glad that my son, my only child, is dead?" Larysa shook her head and didn't notice the tears forming at the bottom of her eyes. "I hope you never have to go through what I went through, losing a child and having to bury them, because it's the most painful thing I've ever felt."

Athrodar watched Larysa walk out and leave the room when she realised she was tearing up and began to feel ashamed that he had even said that to not only his grandmother, but a still grieving mother. "That was heartless of me." He said to himself, cursing himself under his breath shortly after and looking over to Kael'thas and General Feathermoon who were talking to the Convocation.

The meeting took another ten or so minutes with what looked to be successful talks between the Convocation and the Prince and General. "Thank you for hearing us out." Kael'thas said, looking over his shoulder and towards Athrodar who was waiting for him. "I'll be right back, I have someone waiting for me." He then said, making his way over to Athrodar who bowed to him. "That hand print on your face is coming through nicely." He said, grinning at the young Sunblade.

"I deserve it." Athrodar told him, laughing a little and looking down. "I hear the talks went well. Does this mean we are going to be seeing more of the Kaldorei?"

Kael'thas nodded his head and looked over to Shandris. "I believe so. I don't know what is going to happen if I'm truly honest, but if those talks were anything to go by, I think we will see them every now and then." His attention returned to Athrodar who had been waiting for him. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Athrodar smiled a little at him. "I'm taking my mother and Melonara and leaving for Stormwind in a couple days." He said, watching Kael'thas raise an eyebrow at him. "I don't want to be anywhere near the General and this is the best option for not only me, but my mother too. She hasn't been welcomed into this family ever since she married my father and now that he's gone, I fear she will be left out of the family for good. So I'm taking her to Stormwind with me and starting a new life."

Kael'thas nodded his head slowly. "I fully understand. I'm saddened to see you go, I thought it would have been nice to have someone in the city who I could talk to outside of my father and the Convocation, but I don't want to keep you here if that means you're not happy."

"Thank you." Athrodar said, looking down at his family ring. "There's another thing."

"Oh?" Kael'thas tilted his head a little. "What is it?"

"If you need anything from me or Melonara whilst we're over there, feel free to ask. Despite no longer being rangers, we are still two of the best scouts Silvermoon has... Or had to offer. If you need someone to get some information on the humans in Stormwind, or have a task for us around that area, you just have to ask."

Kael'thas smiled and nodded his head again. "I will keep that in mind." He told him, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I wish you the best of luck on your new life in Stormwind and I am so sorry for everything that has happened in the last few days. If I had convinced her to tell you the moment she knew, none of this would be happening."

Athrodar shook his head and waved away his concern. "It's fine. I don't think you could have convinced her. She was set on keeping it a secret because she couldn't trust me to keep my head focused on the mission the entire time we were over there. Turns out in doing so, I have lost all trust in the General."

Kael'thas sighed a little and nodded. "Very well. If I ever need something from you whilst you're in Stormwind, I will let you know."

Athrodar bowed his head to him. "Thank you, my Prince." He said, feeling Kael'thas place a hand on his shoulder and looking up at him.

"You don't need to call me that. I see you as my friend more than anything, you can just call me by my name."

Athrodar smiled and nodded. "Okay then, Kael'thas. I'll be waiting for you to tell me you have a mission for me." He placed his hand on the door handle and began to open the door. "Feel free to update me on anything happening here as well if you feel like I should know. I don't want to stay completely out of the loop, I just don't want to stay somewhere the General could keep an eye on me."

"I fully understand. I'll send a messenger if I get any news that I feel like you should know about." Kael'thas told him, watching Athrodar leave the room shortly after and turning his attention back to the Convocation and his father, as well as the Kaldorei General. "Right, I best be taking you back to Hyjal so you can inform Tyrande and Malfurion." He said, getting a nod from Shandris.

"That would be for the best." General Feathermoon said. "The sooner they know, the quicker we can begin to plan our future with you all." She looked over to the Convocation and the King. "We will most likely send a few ambassadors here within the next couple of days so we can continue talks, set up trade routes and keep up to date with each other should one of us need help." She bowed her head to the Convocation and the King shortly after. "I look forward to working with you all in the future."